


There is weakness in your grip

by FancifulRivers



Series: faded morning glories and hopes for a better future [6]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Child Neglect, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-19
Updated: 2016-01-19
Packaged: 2018-05-13 04:26:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5694712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FancifulRivers/pseuds/FancifulRivers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Asriel waits for Toriel to pick them up and reflects on his new life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	There is weakness in your grip

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Undertale.
> 
> Also, I wonder if anyone's noticed there's a common thread linking all the titles of this series together... :P (Luna, if you read this, you aren't allowed to say, you already know. :P)

You're still sleep fogged as you sit on the bench, letting Chara and Frisk huddle under your robe. It's good you snagged this one when you pelted out, you reflect, your ears twitching in the cold night air. It's an old one of Dad's, but he let you have it when it shrunk in the wash. It's still like a tent on you, but you don't mind because it smells like his laundry detergent and tea.

You kind of like being outside at night. It's dark, and you don't like the dark. But you like that there aren't any humans around. It's still kind of scary, being in the human world, after all this time. Your last experience with humanity wasn't so great. Chara's human, but they're different. Frisk's the same. They're both monsters wrapped up in human skin, just like you but without the fur. 

But the rest of them...

You watch the news sometimes, curled up on the sofa with a slice of pie or a video game. Mom doesn't like it when you do. Your eyes tend to look empty, like Flowey. You don't mean to scare her, but humans are so  _awful_. So much pain and death splashed across headlines, how much more could be hidden behind walls and doors? You know you did bad things when you were a flower, but maybe sometimes you had the right idea. (You never tell Mom that. You can't tell Mom that. You tell Chara once and they laugh and their eyes look empty, too. It sends chills down your back and you suddenly know why Toriel looks so afraid sometimes. You don't tell Frisk, but you think maybe they know anyway.)

Mom tells you stories about her days at work. Good stories. About laughter and kindness and helping hands. You know what she's doing, but you can't bring yourself to tell her to stop. Besides, you think maybe it's helping a little.

Headlights play across the trees and you freeze, your paws clenching around your friends. It's too early for Mom to be here yet. Frisk didn't call that long ago. 

"What is it?" Frisk murmurs sleepily. You can feel Chara's tension, thrumming through their shoulders like a live wire. They know what's strange, tiredness or not.

"Let's go over there," you whisper. "Behind the jungle gym." 

It's a poor hiding spot, but it's all you can think of without leaving the park, and you can't do that. Mom won't know where to find you then, and you don't want to end up even more lost. 

Frisk moves without protest, but you can see the grimace of pain on Chara's face, and you wish you could ease it. They're going to end up lying in bed or on the sofa for the next couple days, propped up by pillows and braced by Toriel's medicine- and they're going to hate every last second of it, you think. Maybe you can sit with them and play video games all day. Chara isn't allowed to play them for more than a few hours at a time because they get too caught up in them and end up wrenching their back, but you are. They could watch you.

You hear a car door ease open and you try to stay as quiet as you can, huddled behind the dubious safety of the jungle gym bars. Frisk's eyes are wide and frightened, reflecting the glimmer of moon back at you. Now you  _know_ it's not Mom. She would never be so quiet, not when she knows your jumpiness and Chara's paranoia and Frisk's trembly-legged fear. You wonder if you could attack them if you had to. It was so much easier as a flower. You didn't  _care_ when you were a flower.

A scrape beside you- you look down and see Chara hefting a rather large, broken-off rock in one hand. Their smile is jagged and brilliant. Their eyes look bloody in the darkness. You want to tell them to put it down, but you don't want to make a noise. At least your robe is relatively dark colored.

Whispers, and the crunch of footsteps. They wheel toward the bench you were just sitting on, but don't move farther.

"Nothing," you hear a man say. "You sure you saw kids?"

"Of course I'm sure," an elderly-sounding woman hisses back. "All ran in here- hooligans probably." Chara bristles next to you, and you can watch their fingers tighten on the rock. You glare at them, and so does Frisk.

"Well, if they were, I think they're long gone," the man says. "Let's get back to the house, Lila."

Chara stiffens and if it wasn't for you, trapping their hand between your paws, you think that rock would have pegged either the man or Lila in the back of the skull. As it is, it's pure luck that the two leave, their footsteps drowning out the muffled fight for the projectile. The car starts up and with a sigh of relief, you realize they're gone.

"I know that name," Chara spits beside you, trembling in rage. Their fingernails are ragged and nearly bit down to the quick, but you can tell Chara's managed to draw blood from their palm. "I know that  _voice_. Fucking low-life nosy good-for-nothing-"

They continue in this vein for a few minutes, saying words that you know Mom would wash your mouth out twice over for even admitting you know they  _exist_ , never mind saying them yourself. Frisk looks similarly awed, thumb tucked just inside the corner of their mouth. When Chara stops, the only sounds coming out of their mouth an angry mumble, you just hug them. It's a loose hug, easily pulled away from, but Chara just sits there.

"It will be okay," you whisper, and they seize your hands, tracing your paw pads with shaky fingertips. Frisk huddles up against your back, and you swear you can feel their heartbeat.

Finally,  _finally_ , you hear the familiar thrum of Mom's car engine. The headlights are on bright, nearly blinding you.

"Done it again, has she?" Chara snorts. 

"Chara," Frisk remonstrates, but you can hear the amusement, carefully suppressed. Mom can drive the car (certainly better at it than Papyrus), but she gets some things mixed up. Like when to turn her brights on.

All three of you rush to the car, eager to get in and get going before the overly nosy "Lila" can return. You and Frisk end up mostly carrying Chara between you, because you can see the pain lines intensify in their face, and the way their cheeks have gotten flushed. 

"Seatbelts," Mom says softly, and you put Chara's seatbelt on for them, though they glare at you with eyes gone a bit too glassy. You don't think being out for so long in the cold was a good thing for them, and you exchange worried looks with Toriel through the rearview mirror.

"Are we in trouble?" Frisk asks in a timid voice as you pull into the driveway. Mom shakes her head.

"No, child," Mom says gently. "Although once we're inside, I would appreciate an explanation before you go back to bed."

Frisk nods, and you do, too. Chara just looks sullen, and despite the seatbelts tethering both of you, you manage to wrap your robe around them again. They look up at you, frowning, but don't push it away.

You help Frisk, but Toriel just lifts Chara up and carries them inside, like they weigh the same as a bag of groceries. When you stumble in after her, she's already fussing over Chara on the couch.

"So what did happen, child?" Mom asks Frisk, but her eyes flitter between all three of you.

"My fault," Chara pipes up in a too-bright, too-bitter singsong. Mom's tucked a lap blanket around them, and their fingers knot in the edge. You can see their knuckles are white. "As usual. What a shock, right?"

"Chara," Mom says- quietly, but it makes Chara stop. Their cheeks burn red and they look at the floor as you clamber up next to them, Frisk tucked into your side.

"I had a nightmare," Chara mumbles, their voice so soft you almost can't hear them. Even Toriel has to lean a bit closer. "And I got up and had a flashback- I guess- I dunno, it was stupid, but I ran outside anyway, and I didn't know where I was until I was in that dumb park, and Asriel and Frisk uh- found me," they finish. 

"I had a feeling," you shrug, because you don't know how to explain it. You've always had a sort of sixth sense about Chara. You have it a bit with Frisk, too, but it isn't quite the same. You don't know why. "There wasn't time to wake you up, Mom. Not if we wanted to keep up with Chara."

"I understand," Mom tells you all. "I'm proud of you for helping your sibling," she tells you, "and I'm proud of you for taking your phone with you and calling me to help," she turns to Frisk, "and I'm proud of you, too, Chara," she finishes.

"Huh?" Chara says, mouth dropping open. "Uh- I'm the one who screwed everything up, Mom."

"I'm proud of you for accepting their help," Mom counters. "It's difficult to accept help when you are struggling, child. I'm glad that you did."

"Oh," Chara says. They look bright red again and you wonder idly if humans are supposed to stay that color for long periods of time.

"Go to bed, all three of you," Toriel commands, now stifling a yawn with one paw. "You may sleep in one bed," she adds, seeing the disquieted look on Frisk's face. "Not the couch, though, please. Not after last time."

"Oh, but Frisk  _wanted_ to end up on the floor," Chara chimes in with a snicker. Frisk glares at them, sticking out the very tip of their tongue. You can't help but laugh.

"I doubt that," Mom says dryly. "Chara, would you like assistance to get into bed?"

"...No, but I guess I need it anyway," Chara grumbles. Toriel smiles and sweeps them up into her arms, carrying them into their own bedroom, as it's the one with the biggest bed. You and Frisk trail dutifully behind, waiting for Chara to get settled in the middle before you crawl up on the right and Frisk climbs over them to the left. You yawn, feeling the exhaustion of the night sink into your bones.

"Hey, Chara," Frisk offers quietly after a few minutes.

"What?" Chara asks. 

"Maybe we can find Heywood Park again in the daylight and go egg Lila's house or something," Frisk says, in that too-innocent voice they use sometimes, and you nearly end up shoved out of bed by the explosive force of Chara's laughter.

"Mom would kill us, no," you say, but you're laughing, too. It feels good. You lie there for a moment before something hits you.

"Chara, didn't you get hurt at the park?"

A very aggrieved groan is your only reply, before Mom flicks the light switch, and you're all left squinting.

"What was that, Asriel?" Mom asks.

Chara puts their head under the pillow.

 

 


End file.
